The Power of Monarchy
by darthsand
Summary: When a new game based on monarchy gets plugged in, Candlehead has to save her family...
1. Prolouge

**A/N: Third time's a charm.**

**I don't own Wreck-It Ralph. All rights go to Disney.**

**That's all I have to say. Enjoy.**

* * *

**The Power of Monarchy**

**Prolouge**

**Litwak's Arcade, July 22, 1999, 9:36 PM PST**

**Released January 2, 2020**

**I**n a place called Litwak's Arcade, there was a game called _Sugar Rush_. In that game, there was an amazing candy wonderland, candy citizens, King Candy, just... Candy everything. There was a racetrack, and the only human citizens, the racers. Among those racers was a girl named Candlehead. She was Taffyta's number two in pretty much everything. Racing, negotiations, bullying the glitch, etc. It was nothing special, considering Taffyta herself was a number two to King Candy. He was a man of honor. He was a powerful monarch, a powerful human being. Nothing could possibly overthrow him.

Or could it?

Crazy talk. Everyone, even Candlehead, knew that was crazy talk. And Candlehead wasn't really the smartest of the racers, with an IQ of 87. But she knew quite a few things, some that even the others didn't know. Those some things were the secrets of her candle. She looked up at it and...

Oh no.

Her candle wasn't there.

She started to freak out. That was the biggest freakout she could possibly have. Even if she KILLED someone, her freakout wouldn't be as big. Her candle was the most important piece of existence to her, even more important than herself. So she needed to look for it.

* * *

She started at her house. She looked everywhere. Her Ice Screamer,

Not there.

Under the carpet,

Not there.

Kitchen,

Not there.

Bedroom,

Not a trace.

Even the bathtub.

And guess what? It wasn't there.

She freaked out. "Oh no," she said in a freaked out sort of tone. "If I don't find my candle, then who knows what will happen?!"

She left the house, got into the Ice Screamer, and left to continue looking.

* * *

She then went to the Candy Tree Forest. She couldn't look inside others' houses, because she knew it wasn't the right thing to do. But it didn't stop her from looking into the glitch's house. If there was one person she hated with a firey passion, it had to be the glitch. She was so hated by everyone (Except fot the recolors, but no-one really cared about them), that she wasn't even considered human. So she naturally woudn't care about the glitch. Maybe she could have stolen it. So she had to look for it there.

She looked in the tiny little shack. And when she was done, she looked behind her and...

It was the glitch.

Candlehead knew she was going to get it now.

"Please! I'm sorry!" Candlehead cried. "I'm really sorry! Please don't hurt me! Please don't cook me and eat me! I-I'm sorry!"

"I won't," said the glitch. "Even though you fully deserve it, I won't hurt you."

"You won't?"

"No. Ugh, relocating. Have you ever had to relocate? No? Well, lucky you. Everybody loves you. You're really famous. And then there's little me. The rotten little glitch." She started to get angry. "Why does everyone call me the glitch, huh?! Why can't people call me my REAL name?!"

"What is your real name?" Candlehead asked.

"Vanellope."

Candlehead just stood there. "Oh. Do you want me to tell the others?"

"No, no. Just call me the glitch, I guess..."

Vanellope disassembled the shack and walked off.

"Wait!"

Vanellope turned around.

"I need a huge favor!" Candlehead shouted. "My candle's out there somewhere! I need help looking for it!"

"Dude, it's worth, like, five bronze coins! You can replace it."

Candlehead started to tear up in her eyes. "Well... This one's special. It's irreplaceable."

Vanellope facepalmed.

"Please, Vanellope. It's all I got left."

Vanellope thought for a moment. "Ugh. Alright, fine. I help you find your precious candle."

"You will?"

"Yeah. But don't tell anyone about this."

"Okay!" Candlehead said. "I don't want to know what will happen in that situation!"

"And another thing," Vanellope told her. "Next time, can you please mind your own business?"

Vanellope and Candlehead headed for the Twizzler Fields.

* * *

The Twizzler Fields. They were as the name suggested. Fields full of Twizzlers. They had to look through the 5-acre square of land. Candlehead, as persistent as she was, looked through every strand of Twizzler until, finally, she found her candle, laying in the field.

"Found it!" Candlehead shouted.

"Good," said Vanellope. "Now can I go back home?"

"Not yet. We need to relight it."

"Ugh. I'll relight it." Vanellope took out two sticks and rubbed them together until they finally lit up. Vanellope lit the wick with the fire, and with that, Candlehead put the candle back on her head, where it belonged.

"I'm going back," Vanellope said. "I gotta relocate. And I didn't do that for free. You gotta give me something."

Candlehead got one silver coin. "Okay, here's one silver coin. But don't ask me for gold coins, you'll destroy our game."

"Whatever." And with that, Vanellope went back to her shack and began to relocate.

**End of Prolouge**

* * *

**A/N: Happy New Year.**


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: So I accidentally lost this chapter, so I had to retype the whole thing.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Twenty-one years later, Litwak's Arcade, December 18, 2020, 3:00 PM PST**

"**A**lright, the bell at school has rung and the kids in the real world are now on their Winter Break!"

Wreck-It Ralph was making announcements in Game Central Station. Just about every game character was there. Vanellope Von Schweetz, whom they got back last year, Fix-It Felix, Sergant Calhoun, the racers from Sugar Rush...

"Soon, we'll be gettin' kids from all across town, eager to play our games! Strap on, we're about to blast off!"

Everyone just stood in their spots. Was Ralph out of his mind?

Calhoun stepped up first. "Wreck-It, have you lost your mind? We don't get business here anymore!"

"No business?" Ralph responded. "Calhoun, 80s 'n 90s nostalgia is what people look for these days! Arcade, NES, Sega Genesis, all that stuff! I went on the Internet the other day, I actually checked, people love all that!"

Then Taffyta stepped up. "Uncle Ralph, have you forgotten about how _Tapper_ went down a few months ago? When that kid spilled an In-N-Out cup of root beer onto the control panel? Fitting way to end, but still, the console exploded. At least Tapper was able to make it outta there."

Then Candlehead stepped up. "I believe you, Uncle Ralph!"

Taffyta looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

Candlehead nodded. "Yep! I'll always believe him! I mean, he saved our game! More than once!"

"Yeah, see?" Ralph said. "Candlehead gets it! C'mon guys, it'll be just like those viral videos from two years back!"

Candlehead smiled. Ralph had saved their game AND the arcade more than once! No-one could deny it! He did get unrealistically lucky that third time, with those viral videos, but that was beside the point!

Maybe she could save the arcade one day.

Calhoun then stepped up to Ralph. "Okay, Wreck-It. Maybe, just maybe, we could get some business. But. If we don't, then you pay for our _Burger Time _meals for a month."

Ralph agreed without any hesitation. "Deal!" He said as he shook hands with Calhoun.

* * *

80s and 90s nostalgia. That was pretty big. Those kids and their parents scurried in. To play the old games. And the new games. Especially _Sonic the Hedgehog_, since its 30th anniversary was coming soon.

* * *

**11:00 PM PST**

Stan Litwak, or "Del Litwak," according to his name tag, closed the doors. But he wasn't done yet. From all the money he got that day, he was able to buy a new game.

Two men rolled the game cabinet on a dolly. Litwak had a clear space to put it: Next to _Hero's Duty_.

"Put it over there, boys," Litwak said as he grabbed the plug and headed over to the power strip.

* * *

The plug in alert sounded. Ralph and Vanellope were facing towards the Wi-Fi outlet, away from the vacant outlet, the one that used to belong to _Tapper_.

"A plug in alert!" Vanellope said as she hopped onto Ralph's shoulder. "Let's go see it!"

She and Ralph headed towards the outlet.

"Hey Spamley!" Ralph called to J.P. Spamley. "What's gettin' plugged in?!"

"Well, Ralph," Spamley said to him. "Let's see!"

The plug was plugged into the outlet. Finally, the LCD screen lit up. It read, _Magicland_.

"Well," Ralph said. "It seems more promising than Wi-Fi." Vanellope aggreed with him, nodding her head.

Suddenly, smoke started billowing out of the outlet. And after a few seconds, a figure, a short one, about as tall as Vanellope, came out of the outlet, looking down.

"Who are you?" Vanellope asked the figure.

The figure looked up. "Benedict. Benecict Marcus III."

**End of Chapter One**

* * *

**A/N: Please don't kill me for this, but I'm adding the Wreck-It Ralph game to this continunity. That's why it said "Third time," and not "Second time."**


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"**B**enedict Marcus III?"

Ralph was questioning him.

"Yes," Benedict replied. "And you are?"

"Wreck-It Ralph," He responded. "This is Vanellope von Schweetz, Fix-It Felix, Jr., Tamora Calhoun, J.P. Spamley, y'know..."

"Interesting... And this place is?"

"Game Central Station. This is where all the games are plugged in. There's your game, there's _Fix-It Felix, Jr._, there's _Sugar Rush_, there's _Hero's Duty_, _Pac-Man_, _Frogger_, _Madden_, all the games in the arcade are plugged in here."

"Now THAT is a huge fire hazard. How are you guys not dead?"

"I'll tell you." He called over Surge Protector. "Surge! Hey, Surge! Can ya come over here for a sec?!"

Surge travelled through the wires in the ground. When he stopped, Ralph greeted him.

"Good morning, Surge. This guy's from this new game. Surge, meet Benedict. Benedict, meet Surge."

Benedict spoke first. "It's a pleasure to meet you. So you're how these guys haven't exploded yet."

"Yes, I am," Surge responded. "And I guess it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Alright guys," Benedict said to the crowd. "Want to see the game?"

* * *

The game was a giant kingdom. It was stunning to look at. The visuals were in 4K HD graphics, and the frame rate remained at a constant 60fps. It couldn't have looked any better.

Ralph practically drooled, Vanellope just stared in awe, Felix looked as if he was about to pass out, Calhoun, well she was Calhoun, Spamley and Gord were looking at the little details in the road, and the racers were smiling heavily. This gave Benedict an idea.

"Alright, this is the game. If you think this is impressive, come and see the town. You'll love it." Benedict led them to the town. At the gate, there was a guard.

Benedict spoke to him. "Seamus, what's up?"

Seamus looked down at him. "What do you want, Benedict?"

"I need you to let me in. I'm touring the game."

"Alright, but first, I need the secret password."

"Is it, 'Let me through before I climb up there and throw you into the river?'"

Seamus got nervous. "No, but i-it'll do! O-Okay, c-come in."

The town was incredible. Every little thing had this amazing detail that just couldn't be explained. There was a general store, a saloon, a barbershop, it was like a western town, only it was in a medieval-themed game.

Benedict explained the general store. "And this is the general store. This is where you buy your basic goods..."

Candlehead was looking at the general store when she heard a voice whisper, "Psst."

Candlehead looked around. It was coming from an alleyway.

"Psst. Hey! You! Little candle girl!"

Candlehead walked into the alleyway. There, she saw a small figure, height about 1 foot and 5 inches, less than half of Candlehead's height of 3 feet. He had blue eyes, brown hair, a monacle, a beard, and a pipe in his mouth.

Candlehead looked down at him. "Yes?"

"I'm Beardy Monacle. But you can call me Ares."

"Okay. Do you need me?"

"Actually, yes. I've gotten some information about our king. He is no man of honor."

"Well I had a king once." Candlehead told Ares. "He was a faker, he put himself in place to take over our game. And for fifteen years, he was in that spot, until about eight years ago when Uncle Ralph and Vanellope teamed up and stopped him! He was a phoney!"

"Well, this man's no phoney. He's the real king. And I've got him for fraud. This man's not King Stephen IX. He looks nothing like his supposed father, King Stephen VIII. He dosen't have the same style of clothing. All his predecessors wore purple. He wears red. He dosen't have the same accent as us. He talks with an Italian accent. He dosen't even have the same skin color! That is the proof! And I'll be damned if this goes through the public."

Candlehead was shocked by the swear word that was said to her. "Excuse me, but that was not a very good word to say! Especially to a child like me!"

"Well, that's just the way we talk to children," Ares told her. "So get used to it."

"Well, still... That's not-"

Ares interrupted her. "Do you want to save us or not?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Good. Now shut your mouth and follow me."

Candlehead did as told. She shut her mouth and followed Ares.

* * *

Benedict Finished touring the town. "Alrighty, then. Everybody's free to go... Except for the wrecker and the contractor guy. We need to talk to you."

Calhoun had suspicions about this. "Now hold up. These men don't need to talk. They're-"

Felix interrupted her. "Don't worry, Tammy. It'll only be for a few minutes."

"But... But Felix..."

"We'll be okay, Tammy. If something goes wrong, then we'll let you know, okay?"

"Ugh... Okay."

Felix, Ralph, and Benedict entered the castle.

* * *

"Okay, Benedict," Ralph began. "What do you need?"

"Well, Ralph," Benedict responded. "There's something for you to know..." He paused while pulling out a revolver. "Before you die."

"Woah, Benedict, is that loaded?"

"Yes," Benedict replied while Seamus tied up Ralph and Felix.

"What's happening?" Felix asked.

"Oh," said Benedict as he put duct tape over their mouths. "Business."

**End of Chapter Two**

* * *

**A/N: I'm gonna have to change the rating from K+ to T because of the gun scene.**


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

**C**andlehead followed Ares to his cabin. He pulled out a key from under the welcome mat and unlocked the door. It was made for his size, so Candlehead couldn't fit into the cabin. She was just too big. And that was saying something, considering how small Candlehead was.

Ares told her, "Wait here. I need to get something."

Candlehead waited outside the cabin. She looked over it and saw the beautiful mountains in the horizon. She did nothing, she said nothing, just stared at the mountains in total awe. They were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Maybe, even more than her candle...

When Ares exited from the cabin, he had two walkie talkies and a Nintendo Switch.

Candlehead was just plain confused. "Okay, I kinda understand the walkie talkies, but the Nintendo Switch?"

"Don't blame me," Ares told her. "Blame the stupid programmers for not understanding Medieval Times."

And with that, they left the cabin.

* * *

Ralph and Felix were being transported to the Ungeon. They were on a truck. IN MEDIEVAL TIMES! Anyway, they were being transported in the cargo bay. And at the front were Benedict and Seamus.

"Oh-ho," Benedict said. "I should NOT! Be driving right now!"

They were both drunk. They were drinking wine. And it sure packed a punch.

"Y-Yeah," said Seamus. "BUT IT'S WORTH IT!"

Ralph and Felix were rolling around in the back.

Ralph exclaimed, "WHEN WILL THIS STOOOOOOP!"

It got worse, too. Benedict fell asleep on the wheel, and since they were driving on a cliff, the truck rammed the guard rail, broke through, and fell.

* * *

Candlehead and Ares stopped at a hut. Ares rang the doorbell.

"Alright, candle girl," Ares told Candlehead, "You better not say a word. I'll do the talking."

The door opened. It was an elderly man, in his 60s or 70s, had white hair, a beard, wrinkly skin, and a cane to help him walk. He spoke. "Well, c'mon in."

Candlehead and Ares entered the hut. The old man got Ares some vodka, and Candlehead some orande juice (She's underage). "So what brings you here?" the old man asked.

"Bobby, we need your help. The king's a fraud. We need you to fight with us."

Bobby laughed. "Sorry, Ares, but my fighting days are long over. I'm retired."

"Oh."

"Now, who is this you brought with you?"

"Who, this?" Ares needed to come up with something. "Uh, She's just someone who's gonna help us out! She's, uh, mute, yeah! She can't talk!"

Bobby had suspicions. "Little candle girl, tell me, are you mute?"

Candlehead just stared at him for a moment, until she finally spoke with, "What does that mean?"

Ares got angry. "I told you, DO NOT SPEAK!"

Candlehead jumped at his statement. "Woah!"

Ares got even more angry. "**WHY DID YOU SPEAK, DAMMIT?!**"

Candlehead sreamed, then hid behind Bobby. She started to cry.

"Now, easy there, Ares," Bobby told him. He turned to Candlehead. "Don't mind Ares, he gets angry when there's kids around."

Candlehead was still crying. She looked up at him and asked, "Why, though? What did kids ever do to him?"

"I don't know," Bobby responded. "I guess he just dosen't like kids." Candlehead continued to cry. Bobby looked at Ares. "Look what you did, Ares. You made her cry."

"I MADE HER CRY? SERIOUSLY?"

"I mean, you yelled at her, and you cussed at her, add the fact that she's only a kid, yeah. You need to get your anger issues under control."

"Okay, fine, whatever."

Candlehead looked up at Bobby again. She was still crying, her face and eyes were red, still had tears running down her cheeks. "So, does this mean you guys don't usually talk to kids like this?"

Bobby knew from that one question what that meant.

Ares told her that.

"Ares, we don't talk to children like that. You know better than to tell her that."

Ares just rolled his eyes.

Bobby spoke to Candlehead. "What's your name?"

"Candlehead."

"Candlehead who?"

Candlehead paused for a moment. She didn't have a last name, nor did anyone really care to give her one. So she said, "Oh, I don't have a last name. It's just Candlehead."

Bobby didn't expect that answer. "Interesting..."

"Hello," Ares said. "I still exist, y'know."

"Okay," Bobby responded. "And?"

"And there's still an abusing king out there."

"Okay. Let me get you some better gear."

**End of Chapter Three**

* * *

**A/N: I just want know what you think about this story so far.**


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

**R**alph and Felix woke up at the bottom of the cliff. They were lucky to survive that thousand-foot drop down. The truck was completely destroyed, it was scrap metal. Benedict and Seamus were a few feet away. They were still unconscious, so Ralph and Felix could do anything they wanted with them. That gave Ralph an idea. He found some rope in the glove box, or what was left of it, broke out of his shackles, and tied the two up.

"Ralph, what are you doing?" Felix asked.

"Fix the truck," Ralph commanded him. "We're goin' for a ride."

* * *

Calhoun was still standing outside. Felix told her a few minutes, right? Well, it had been AN HOUR! Calhoun had enough. She left the area to look for them. They had to have been taken hostage...

Calhoun started with the town. She looked everywhere. General store, barbershop, saloon, even people's houses, EVEN GUARD TOWERS (She's so badass!), but still couldn't find them. It was getting dark, this was the only game in the whole arcade to have a time cycle. She needed to find them before it got dark.

Oh, where were they?

* * *

Bobby equipped Candlehead and Ares with the best weapons and armor in the game. It wasn't to the level of _Hero's Duty_, but it was definitely good enough to take on the King's army. Bobby also equipped them with a Ford F-150 and some Mountain Dew. Pure gamer fuel. Anyway, Bobby also got Candlehead some gasolene for her candle. He also got Ares some whoppie cushions to lay around the perimeter of the castle.

"Whoopie cushions?" Ares questioned. "Really?"

"Just thought you might need them," Bobby told him. "Now drive safe out there!"

Candlehead and Ares got into the truck and drove off. It was a little akward at first. Candlehead was scared from Ares yelling at her, so she couldn't talk. And Ares was embarassed from his mental breakdown, so he couldn't talk.

But there were constant voices inside Candlehead. Voices that she didn't like or know where they came from. Ralph's voice came first.

_"If you hadn't spoken, then maybe he wouldn't have yelled at you..."_

Then Vanellope's voice.

_"Has that candle melted your brain? Because I think it has..."_

Then Felix's voice.

_"Oh, sweetie, let's take an IQ test... I'm sure you'd score below 70..."_

Then Calhoun's voice.

_"GO TO SCHOOL! THAT'S AN ORDER!..."_

And then everyone else in the arcade.

_"Why do you have such a small brain... I don't know... A birth defect, maybe..."_

_"You're so STUPID, you'd forget how to EXIST if you weren't reminded..."_

_"Poor little Candlehead, too dumb to even spell a random sequence of letters..."_

_"Do you even know your own name?..."_

_"What's two plus two? Your first choice is five, right?... Well, wrong..."_

_"How do you spell KFC?... You'd get that wrong..."_

_"You are stupid."_

There was a pause. And then,

_"Stupid."_

Another pause.

_"Stupid."_

A third pause.

_"Stupid."_

A fourth pause.

_"Stupid."_

Suddenly, the voices stopped. It was a miracle. But that word...

Stupid.

Oh, she hated being called that. She wasn't really the smartest of the racers, but she wasn't stupidest, either. That would go to Gloyd. He was the one who was really stupid, not knowing when to stop on his pranks, or how to spell even the simplest words. But even he had common sense. And if he can have common sense, then she can, too.

She suddenly spoke.

"I'm not stupid..."

Ares heard that. "Huh?"

"Nothing."

"No, I want to know what you said."

"I-I can't tell you."

"No." Ares was getting serious. "Maybe I can help you."

She paused for a few seconds. And then,

"I'm not stupid."

"Why do you say that?"

She sighed. "Because everyone has been calling me that. I can't even step foot into Game Central Station without getting at least one remark like that."

Ares was taking in all of those words. "How long has that been going on?"

"For as long as I can remember. Oh, forget that. As long as my game has been plugged in."

"And how long is that?"

She paused, not wanting to tell him. But she knew that she had to tell him. So, she did. "Twenty-three years."

Ares could barely take that number in. Twenty-three years? But she was only nine! How could that have been going on for twenty-three years?

"But how?" He asked her. "You're only a kid."

"We don't age. It's not in our code."

Ares started getting some flashbacks to his childhood. He was often bullied for being the shortest kid in town. Almost every day, he'd come home crying, with multiple cuts and bruises from being jumped. He had a beard and a monacle as a child, so he was bullied from that, too.

But then, another flashback came. It was a flashback to when he finally beat his bullies. The main one came up to him, ready to kill, when Ares jumped up and punched him square in the nose. The bully then went home crying. After that, the bullies never bothered him again... So he had to tell her about that.

"Candlehead," He said. "I was going through something similar to you in my childhood. I was bullied pretty much every day for my appearance, being short and having a beard. I'd come home crying after being jumped, cuts, bruises, broken monacle, broken teeth, sometimes even broken bones and a concussion. But one day, the unthinkable happened. The main bully came up to me. I jumped and punched him in the nose!"

Candlehead gasped at that. "That's terrible!"

Ares laughed. "Terrible? Think again. He went home crying and those bullies never bothered me again."

Candlehead thought about that for a second. That seemed satisfying, but... Punching the bully in the nose? And another thing, before Ralph came to Sugar Rush, she was a bully herself. For the first two years of the game's service, she bullied Vanellope every day. Even when the other racers didn't, she was too focused on Taffyta that she just kept doing it. But after Vanellope helped Candlehead find her candle in the Twizzler fields one day, she found herself stopping doing that every single day. Sure, she still did it occasionally for the next thirteen years, but that really changed something.

She didn't want to tell him that, so she just went with, "Yeah. I think I understand."

"Good," Ares said. "Don't just take that stuff. Step up! Take action! Just like I did!"

"Okay, okay!" Candlehead told him. "I need to take action!"

"Yes! Now enough about that, let's get this 'King'!"

"Okay!"

**End of Chapter Four**


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N: I don't like poetry. So I will NEVER write poetry. Nobody ever asked me, I just want to let you know. I'm also horrible at poetry.**

**WARNING: SpongeBob reference.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**C**alhoun had checked the entire town. Every store, business, guard tower, house, invaded the privacy of thousands of innocent people, and still couldn't find Ralph and Felix. So, she needed some help. She headed to _Hero's Duty_. She rounded up every Private in that game, and divided them into sections of the game.

"Here's where everyone's gonna go! And if I can't get you over there, then I don't know what will!"

Markowski was assigned to the moutains. Moore was assigned to the bottom of the cliff. Johnston was assigned to the perimeter of the walls. Spencer was assigned to an abandoned town out west. And Kohut was assigned to to the game's forest. She had everyone assigned to different parts of the game. She knew it was absurd, but given how important Ralph and Felix were to her, she also knew it was worth a shot.

Really, what choice did she have, either?

* * *

Felix was driving the truck out of the Rock Bottom-esque area. Benedict and Seamus were in the back, still tied up and unconsious. Ralph was too heavy to go on top of the truck, and too big to fit inside, so he had to climb his way out of there. And it hurt, too.

"OOOOWWWWWW!"

After 45 minutes, they finally got out from below. Once they got out, Ralph was able to go on top. They headed off, out of the town.

Felix was questioning in his head why they were doing this. Yeah, they handcuffed him and Ralph, but did they deserve this?

Should he untie them and let them free?

Should he let them take him and Ralph prisoner again?

What about the racers? Should he let the two take them, too?

And what about Calhoun? Should he let them take HER?

Only time would tell whether he would do that.

* * *

Candlehead and Ares stopped at the abandoned town out west. It has horrendous to look at. Every building was abandoned, with every window and door boarded up, vines and mold growing on every wall. The Courthouse's molding and bricks were breaking, much like Niceland when Ralph is wrecking it, but much, much slower. Tumbleweeds and cacti were both abundant. The area smelled like a person who has not showered in over fifty years. It was miserable being there. But Ares needed something from the area. Something important.

Candlehead turned around to look at the large mountains. Now she can really get a good look at them. Large snowy mountains, abundant with pine trees, deer, and other wildlife, much like Colorado. That was starting to turn into Candlehead's favorite sight.

As Ares was exiting the courthouse with a lightsaber in his hand, he noticed Candlehead looking at the mountains. He also noticed a figure walking over to the town. Candlehead noticed him, too. He was clad with big, black armor and a variety of different weapons. Candlehead recognized him immediately. He was Private Jonas Spencer from _Hero's Duty_.

"Mr. Spencer!"

Spencer recognized Candlehead's voice. "Candlehead?"

"Yes, it's me!

Spencer didn't expect Candlehead to be there. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in _Sugar Rush_ doing your Random Roster Race, or whatever it's called!"

"Oh, I've been chosen to save the world! This guy, Ares, He chose me to save this world from the King!"

Ares reached the spot. Candlehead introduced Spencer to Ares.

"Ares, meet Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer, meet Ares."

Spencer had found a cowboy hat lying on the ground. "So this is yours?" He showed the cowboy hat. It had the Ares' name on it.

Ares looked at it. "Hmm... Yes. It's mine." So he took the hat and put it on his head. He was a complete cowboy again.

Spencer turned to Candlehead. "Now, Felix and Calhoun told you, don't ever talk to strangers, that's bad."

Candlehead looked down, embarrassed from forgetting about that. "I'm sorry." was all she could say. She even got tears in her eyes.

Spencer chuckled. "Now don't feel bad about yourself. You're trying to save this world, go for it! You can do this!"

Candlehead expected Spencer to continue scolding her. She didn't expect what she was getting. But what the heck? She wen't for it.

"You really think so?"

"I know so," He responded.

Candlehead now felt confident, the most confident she'd ever felt, in fact. She was confident in not only saving her family,

But this whole game.

* * *

Ralph and Felix stopped at a gas station. It looked retro, mostly 40s and 50s style. They needed to filled up because Ralph's 643-pound weight kept WASTING THE GAS. Anyway, they filled up. And as they were filling up, they saw someone in the distance. He was the old man from earlier, Bobby. Execpt this time, he was more energetic than when Candlehead and Ares visited him.

Felix went up to him to greet him. "Well, howdy-doo, mister. I'm Fix-It Felix, Jr., from the game, Fix-It Felix, Jr."

Bobby laughed. "Hahaha! Well, I'm Bobby! Nice to meet you!"

"Well," Felix said. "Nice to meet you too."

Ralph fell down from the truck. "Hey! What about me?!"

Bobby just laughed again.

Felix introduced him. "Bobby, this is Ralph."

Bobby shook Ralph's giant hands. "Nice to meet you, Ralph." He paused for a second, taking his hand off of Ralph's. "Uhh... Yeah... Feel free to look around in there..."

"Thanks, man, but we're on a mission right now." He pointed to Benedict and Seamus. "You see, the guys kidnapped us and-"

Bobby knew who Ralph was talking about. "Benedict and Seamus... Yeah... These guys've been workin' for the tyrant ever since he was crowned. They don't know what they were doin' wrong. They're tied up? Well, they damn well deserve it!"

Felix gasped. "Woah, language, sir!"

Bobby apologized. "Sheesh, sorry. Anyway, I know a place to take 'em."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Take 'em to the dogs! They'll eat 'em up faster than the steak I throw at 'em every day!"

Felix was shocked at how dark this was getting. He knew they'd regenerate. But still, dogs? "Woah, now that's a little dark, sir. Can't we find another way?"

Bobby laughed for a third time. "Hahaha! No! They willin'ly worked for a tyrant, they need to pay!" He got into the truck. Felix, albeit reluctantly, followed him. Ralph got back on top, and they headed for Bobby's house.

* * *

Candlehead and Ares headed for the mountains. It seemed that they needed a knife in case they needed to stab the King. They were driving East on a road that lead to the mountains. Ares was in the passenger seat, so he was able to get a good look out the window. Yes. The mountains. Still as snowy as ever. And they needed to go inside them. The road turned straight towards the mountains. After five minutes, they arrived at the base of Mount Trinidad. They exited the truck. Ares got an iPhone out of his pocket and called a number.

"Hey, get your bulldoser. We need it."

Ares hung up. And in the matter of seconds, one of Ares' friends cane in a bulldoser.

"Hey, Ares!" The friend greeted Ares. "Who's this?"

Ares introduced him to Candlehead. "Mark, this is Candlehead. She's helping us out."

"That name fits..." Mark mumbled to himself. He greeted Candlehead. "Nice to meet you. What's your last name?"

That last name thing again. "I don't have a last name. I'm just Candlehead." She told him. She noticed another one of those _Hero's Duty _guys. What was up? Did Mrs. Calhoun send these guys over here?

Mark asked Candlehead a question. "Now, what's your story?"

Ouch. She wanted to tell him, but at the same time, what if he was an advocate for Anti-Bullying, just like Ares? She didn't want to get in trouble. So, she went with, "I don't want to tell. That's a secret."

Mark respected her wishes. "Okay."

Mark entered his bulldoser, and swinged the ball into the mountain. He noticed a giant Titanium door. He swinged at the door. It didn't fall.

He swinged at it again.

It didn't fall.

He swinged at it a third time.

Third time was a charm. The door fell, and revealed a light. He exited the bulldoser, thinking to himself, _What the hell?_

Ares figured it was the knife. "That's what we're lookin' for! Let's go!" With that, they entered the mountain. But not before Private Markowski noticed them, mumbling, "Is that Candlehead?"

* * *

Calhoun stopped at a hut. It was your average, stereotypical hut, with its straw roof. She walked towards it when she noticed lights to her left. It was a truck with a giant Ralph-like man on it. Or...

Wait a minute.

Was it them? The answer was confirmed when the truck came up close. In the truck's passenger seat was Felix. And on top was Ralph. But who was in the driver's seat?

Felix exited the truck. "Tammy? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you and Wreck-It, Felix." Calhoun told Felix. "Where have you been?"

"We were kidnapped! Bobby here said they were working for the king! He must be a tyrant!"

Ralph backed Felix up. "Yeah, and I had to tie them up so they wouldn't do that again! That guy who showed us around, he's one of those guys!"

"Figures..." Calhoun mumbled to herself.

**End of Chapter Five**


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

**C**andlehead, Ares, and Mark were walking down a large, dark hallway. Candlehead was at the front, because she had light. As they went on, they noticed skeletons. The skeletons piled up more and more, until the end.

"Hey, look!"

It was a huge chamber. Statues were abundant. Flames surrounded the entire chamber. And at the center, was a glowing knife. It was glowing green, and it was bright. But Ares didn't care, he just took the knife.

"Alright, let's go."

Ares headed out of the chamber, with Mark following him.

Candlehead was blown away by what had just happened. Ares just took the thing out and left. That thing had to have been over a thousand degrees! Candlehead wasn't great with numbers, but she knew THAT was a big number! But what the heck? Ares got the knife. He was already leaving, so Candlehead left too.

* * *

Ralph was sitting on Bobby's couch, waiting for him. Felix and Calhoun were next to him, whispering to each other. Ralph looked around the house, with its abundant deer head trophies and rifles. He also looked outside as it started to rain.

Bobby walked to the couch, handling bottles of beer. He handed each of them beers, and had one for himself. He had some questions to ask them, so he got with it. "So what brings you here?"

Ralph answered him. "We were just checking out your game when those guys tied us up! How do you even live in this place?"

Bobby chuckled. "Heh heh, well, it's my home! I've lived here all my life! I've lived through three kings! I've lived through them building that eye sore of a castle! I was there when Ares was born! And-"

Ralph stopped him. "Who's Ares?"

Bobby answered the question. "Well, he's my short buddy with a beard and a monacle! He came by with this little girl with a candle on her head, and-"

"CANDLEHEAD?!" Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun all yelled in unison.

* * *

Ares and Mark exited the hallway, with Candlehead behind them. It was now raining heavily, with puddles forming and lightning in the sky. That was a problem for Candlehead, as she didn't want to get her candle wet. So she did what she thought was the most logical thing to do: Stay in the hallway until the storm cleared.

"C'mon, Candlehead, get in!" Ares told her. But Candlehead didn't want to get her candle wet.

"I... Can't. I don't want to get my candle wet."

Besides, nobody went out in the rain in these barren times. They had horses and advanced 2030s computer systems. What even was this era?

Anyway, Ares had to get out and make her get in the truck. She could just relight her candle, right? Well, Candlehead's "logic" said no. But it was too late. Ares had already pulled Candlehead out of the hallway. And in only a second, her candle was already extinguished.

"NOOOO!"

And that was it. Her candle was doomed.

Ares placed Candlehead in the back. Ares got in the front passenger seat, and Mark drove off.

* * *

Benedict woke up, still tied up in the back of the truck. Seamus was still unconsious next to him. He thought of a way to get out. And then...

He noticed a pair of scissors by the wall. He moved over to the scissors, grabbed them, and without looking, cut the rope on his wrists. He then used the scissors to cut the rope on his ankles. He went over to Seamus and cut his rope. He started with his wrists, cutting off the rope, but accidentally slitting his left wrist. Oh well. He then moved to cut the ankle rope.

After about thirty seconds, Seamus woke up, and they opened the unlocked door, and took out grenades to throw at Bobby's straw roof.

* * *

"YOU'RE TELLIN' ME THAT CANDLEHEAD'S STILL IN THIS GAME!?"

Calhoun was furious. Candlehead was in this game, who knew where. She could have been getting mauled to death by wolves, for all she knew!

Bobby laughed nervously. "Heh heh, maybe? Last time I saw her, she was with Ares and-"

Calhoun interrupted him. "SHE WAS WITH A STRANGER!? Oh, she is SO grounded!"

Grenades started dropping through the roof. Calhoun was the first one to notice them "BAIL!"

Ralph punched through a random wall. The rest followed him, just in time to survive the house blowing up.

"NOOOO! MY HOUSE!"

Bobby dropped to his knees and started to cry. Ralph noticed the truck's open doors. He looked inside to find a pair of scissors, blood, and some rope scattered around.

Ralph's jaw dropped, practically to China. How could this have happened? How could Benedict and Seamus have escaped? Were they the ones who threw those grenades?

Did they try to kill him and Felix? How were they not in sight? Or better yet, how in Litwak's did they cut the rope?

This was really weird.

* * *

Candlehead was in the back seat of the truck. She was looking up at her wet candle, on the verge of tears. She was wondering why Ares would do that. She was wondering why he would just pull her out into the rain. Did he do it on purpose? Did he want to extinguish her candle? Did...

Did he hate her? That old guy mentioned that Ares hated kids. And Candlehead was a kid. So... It all added up! Ares knew Candlehead was a KID who loved her candle, so he intentionally pulled her out in the rain with the purpose of extinguishing her candle! Yes! Ares was a bully! And that meant...

Ares was a hypocrite.

Oh, the truth. Candlehead added it all up on her own. Ares was not who she thought he was. She had to do something. She had to avenge her candle.

But how?

**End of Chapter Six**


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

**B**enedict and Seamus, after running for ten straight minutes, arrived at their base. After Benedict used the key card to enter, they opened the walls to reveal LOADS of guns, swords, baseball bats, grenades, RPG launchers, yeah. They were the most powerful people in this game. They grabbed the pistols. They loaded them onto another truck. They went back inside to get the SMGs. They loaded them. Then the shotguns,

Loaded.

Assault rifles,

Loaded.

RPG launchers,

Loaded.

Flamethrowers,

Loaded.

Finally, the grenades. Seamus took the grenades up front, while Benedict loaded two HEAVY boxes of ammunition. He was suprisingly strong. Benedict closed the back doors, locked them, got into the front, and drove off.

* * *

Calhoun ran of into the forest, in pursuit of Candlehead. She was frustrated, not just because she was still in this game, but also that Candlehead had lied to her. It was cold and rainy. She looked through every tree, every blade of grass, even dug holes. And the result? Nothing. It seemed that Candlehead wasn't in the forest. She noticed a cliff. She walked over to said cliff and saw a large plain. No trees, no hills, just grass and a road. She looked at the road and saw a truck. It was a red F-150. She noticed a little girl with a cake hat, green hair, and a candle.

"That's Candlehead," Calhoun told herself.

* * *

Mark pulled up to a gate. He pressed a button on a remote, and when the gate opened, he drove to his mansion. It was huge. 16 bedrooms, 22 bathrooms, three kitchens, a giant pool... Mark really was living the life. Ares and Mark walked into the mansion, but Candlehead was staying behind. She was planning oh now to get back at Ares. She had to do something. And she wasn't as smart as most of the others, so that was a challenge. She really had to think hard to get a complex plan. She thought.

And thought.

And thought.

Until finally, she had a plan. She exited the truck and walked into the mansion. It was beautiful. Diamonds were scattered in all the material. Walls, ceilings, even the floors. It looked entirely convincing. But Candlehead didn't know why it was convincing.

Ares and Mark split. Ares went to the left. Mark went to the right. Candlehead picked left, and Ares opened a door into a stairwell. This was Candlehead's chance. So she, without any hesitation, pushed Ares down the stairwell. Ares fell, hitting multiple steps. Candlehead found a table of candles, relit her candle, and walked down the stairwell.

"Why'd you do it?"

Ares was confused by that question. "What?"

"Why did you pull me out of that cave and into the rain? Oh, I know! You hate me!"

Ares was still confused. "Candlehead, what are you even talking about?"

"I'm talking about an hour ago, when you pulled me out into the rain and got my candle wet! Tell me, why'd you do it?"

Ares was getting it... A little. But he still understood enough to answer the question. "Because we're on an important mission to save the whole world. Why?"

"Because... You hate me."

Ares was confused and shocked at the same time. What caused Candlehead to suddenly think that?

"Why do you say that?"

Candlehead was starting to cry. "Be-Because... I don't know." She was getting flashbacks to two years ago, when Ralph and Vanellope had first travelled to the internet and Felix and Calhoun had adopted Candlehead and her fellow racers. Felix was lecturing Candlehead on something about her candle...

* * *

_"Now, Candlehead," Felix told her. "It's important to know this. There's People out in this world, and there's your candle. And the people always come first."_

_Candlehead's mouth opened. "Why? Why would you say something so mean, Mr. Felix?"_

_"Candlehead, I'm sorry if this pains you, but this is what's true..."_

* * *

Candlehead entered another flashback. It was the Random Roster Race of November 3, 2012. After Vanellope had glitched in front of Taffyta, They all jumped a ramp. Vanellope made the jump, while Taffyta, Candlehead, and Rancis fell straight into the cupcake below...

* * *

_"Oh, no, my candle!" Candlehead was looking up at her broken candle. "What do I do, my candle's broken!"_

_Rancis facepalmed. "Candlehead, it's worth five bronze coins."_

_Candlehead was letting the tears flow. "No, Rancis! It's worth way more than that! It's worth more than any money could possibly pay!..."_

* * *

Candlehead entered her third and final flashback. It was back to the day she lost her candle in the Twizzler Fields. After Vanellope had wallked off, Candlehead had just held her candle in her hands...

* * *

_"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! I don't know what I'd do without you!"_

_Candlehead placed the candle back on her cake hat, where it rightfully belonged. She looked at Vanellope, who was carrying all of her belongings out of the candy tree forest. She almost felt sorry for Vanellope._

_"Oh, Vanellope. What a nice name, actually." She sighed. "I just wish... I just... I wish you could live with us." She looked at Vanellope as she started to sing._

_"Vanellope,"_

_That was all she could sing before the flashback suddenly ended._

* * *

Candlehead was tearing in her eyes, almost uncontrollably. She looked at Ares, still on the ground. She didn't know if she should believe him, or if she should continue thinking he hated her. Either way was diffucult.

"A-Ares," She spoke, still crying and finding it hard to talk. "I-I'm sorry... It's just..." She was thinking hard on what to say. But she couldn't say anything.

Ares was looking up at her. She has tears running down her cheeks, and her face was red. He was also thinking about what to say.

Then, it hit him.

"Candlehead," He began. "Do you know what 'Ares' means?"

Candlehead, still crying, just shook her head.

"Well," Ares said. "Ares is the Greek god of war. I'e always had a strange but oddly compelling love for violence for some reason."

Candlehead looked at him. "But... But w-why? That's a horrible thing to say!"

Ares continued. "Well, I've always had these... Fantasies about violence and bloodshed!" He laughed maniacally. "MWA HA HA HA!"

Candlehead screamed and jolted back. "WHY! Why do you like all that bad stuff?!"

Ares laughed to himself. And then...

"Because... I'm a psychopath."

**End of Chapter Seven**

* * *

**A/N: I can't write musical numbers, but I really want to have one for Candlehead. Any advice?**


	9. Chapter Eight

**A/N: I don't own Star Wars. All rights go to Disney. You know the drill.**

**Action.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**C**andlehead gasped. Ares? A psychopath? Candlehead didn't really have a complex mind, but she knew what THAT meant.

"You?" Candlehead was asking Ares about what he had just said. "A psychopath? Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Ares was still laughing. "Because... I wanted to wait until you were one hundred percent lured into my trap..." And with that, he pulled the lightsaber from the courthouse. He activated it, with all its red plasma glory.

Candlehead couldn't believe what she was seeing. "W-Where did you GET THAT? I thought only those _Star Wars _guys had those!"

Ares just kept laughing. "Heh heh, Well, let's just say FRAUD is a felony! HA! The programmers stole these from _Star Wars_! HA HA HA!" And with that, he struck Candlehead with the lightsaber.

Candlehead dodged the attack. She tried to run, but Ares was faster, since he was smaller. He struck Candlehead again, hitting her shoulder.

The hit was agonizingly painful, it felt like fire. Candlehead fell on the ground, screaming.

Ares threatened Candlehead with the lightsaber.

Candlehead looked at the lightsaber, much more bright than she could ever dream for her candle to be. She gulped, then closed her eyes and clenched her fists, ready for her ultimate fate.

Ares turned off the lightsaber and looked at Candlehead, still with her eyes closed, still with her fists clenched, still ready for her fate to come. Candlehead opened her eyes and looked at Ares. He had a creepy smile, red eyes, and a knife with blood on it. It was true.

She was looking at a psychopath.

"Why are you d-doing this?" Candlehead asked him, scared, almost to death.

Ares stopped smiling. He sighed as he started to explain. "I was young, it was rainy..."

* * *

_14-year-old Ares was looking at middle-aged Bobby, who was teaching him how to use a gun._

"Bobby... He taught me how to shoot, he taught me how to aim, hold the gun, reload, even put a suppressor on it..."

_Then, one day, while Bobby was out of town, Ares snuck into Bobby's unlocked house._

"I wanted to know what it was like to steal, I was driven into insanity by the whole world..."

_Ares stole a deer head trophy that Bobby had mounted on his wall. He walked out of the house with it, closing the door._

"I... Felt good! I felt no remore for stealing that deer head trophy at all, so I stole again! And again! And since then, well, I..."

* * *

"...Became a full-on theif."

Candlehead's jaw dropped to the bottom of space. She had the sudden urge to leave and tell the whole town.

Ares knew what Candlehead was about to do. "Now, Candlehead, I'm deeply sorry about all of this. I just have a thing for other people's misfortunes! I..."

Candlehead interrupted him. "You're a theif? What does that have to do with you trying to KILL me?"

Ares sighed again. "Because I thought I had to kill you now that I told you. I guess I was just having another one of my breakdowns."

Candlehead just stared at him, still not convinced.

Ares sighed for one last time. "Look, Candlehead. I may be a theif, I may be a vandal, I may be a psychopath, but..." He paused. And then...

"But I'm not a killer. I probably wouldn't show any remorse for doing so, and I'd probably be happy, in fact, but I have restraint. And if I have restraint for doing that, then I'm not gonna do such a thing, unless I absolutely have to. And I think that's what's important."

Candlehead was still staring a him. She sensed a look of genuine truth in his eyes, a look of proper honesty. Her candle flared slightly. She just... Had to take his word for it.

She sighed. "Okay... I mean, I'm still a little... A little..."

"Reluctant?" Ares finished the sentence.

Candlehead looked at him, not knowing what that word meant. But she accepted that word. "Yeah. Okay. I'll take your word for it."

"Okay," Ares said. "Now let's get that tyrant!"

* * *

Calhoun reached the mansion's gates. She looked at the high class of the property, the property that had to be worth millions. It was heavily guarded. The guards looked like flesh-colored silly putty with facial features attached. So that gave her an idea. She found some silly putty on the ground, put it around her head, and walked up to the guards in her military style.

"MA'AM, YES MA'AM!"

They... Open the gate! Wow! These guys were stupider than they seemed! They had to be completely brainless! But hey, she was on the property, and with the front doors completely unguarded, she snuck in, nobody noticing her.

The foyer was massive. A chandelier that looked like it would be worth billions, drapes that looked hand sewn, walls, floor, and ceiling looked like they had pure diamonds scattered in the glossed limestone. Whatever this place was, it was definitely high class.

She looked in the living room first. Not a trace of Candlehead. But she did find a letter.

_Dear Mark,_

_It has been an honor serving with you for thirty-five years. And now that we have been honorably discharged, it is time that we go our separate ways. I wish the best of luck to you. I hope we cross paths someday. And most of all, enjoy the new mansion._

_-William_

Calhoun set the letter down. The owner of the house was a veteran. Huh.

She searched the dining room next. Nope. Nothing. But the table itself. It was so long. It looked so crisp, the utensils laid out in an orderly fasion, hand sewn cloth napkins... Now that the racers had proper table manners, she could take them here to eat. That would be something.

She started to search the kitchen when she heard footsteps. The door closed, and she looked out the window. It was true.

Candlehead was hanging out with a stranger.

**End of Chapter Eight**


	10. Chapter Nine

**A/N: Sorry for being inactive for ALMOST TWO MONTHS. I'll (Try) not to do it again. Go ahead, slap me in the face. No, punch me. Do it hard, too. Record it and upload it to YouTube, I don't know!**

**WARNING: Plot point completely un-foreshadowed (Last one, I promise). But this chapter's EXTREMELY important to the story, so yeah...**

**Oh, and 104 Days of Summer Vacation got deleted for a REASON, y'know...**

**And There's a change in format.**

**And now, Chapter IX.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**R**alph and Felix were still in pursuit of Benedict and Seamus, who had seemingly left no traces of their presence, other than footprints.

"Hey Felix, look!" Ralph called over to Felix. "Footprints!"

Ralph didn't know what Benedict's footprints or Seamus' footprints looked like. But there were two trails of footprints, both with the Nike Swoosh logo, that could potentially lead to the crooks.

"These footprints," Ralph said. "Could lead us to those... Uh... You get the point, Felix!"

Felix was unsure. Ralph had been acting suspicious lately. Was it a joke? Was Ralph acting insecure to gather attention? Was...

Was Ralph the bad guy all along?

No. It couldn't have. Ralph discovered that, with Vanellope and others by his side, he was NOT bad by heart! He was truly a good guy! The "Bad Guy" in him was just for his role in his game! It wasn't who Ralph truly was!

But Felix didn't want to take chances. He was unsure, those could be a trap. "Ralph, we don't know those are their footprints, can we find another clue?

Ralph was fully convinced those were their footprints. "Felix, these could be their footprints! I know it! And if I need to find them on my own, then I will!" And with that, Ralph followed the footprints.

Felix didn't know if Ralph's decision was the right thing. Sure, Benedict and Seamus did some... Questionable... Things to himself and Ralph, but did they do anything to everybody else? Vanellope, Spamley, the racers, Calhoun? Sure, they attempted to kill everybody in Bobby's hut, including Calhoun, but...

Never mind. Felix followed Ralph over the trail of footprints.

* * *

Ares took Candlehead outside the mansion's door. The rain was still pouring, but it was starting to clear up. Candlehead was holding a black umbrella to protect her candle.

"Now," Ares said. "I suggest we get on my horse." Ares whistled for horse. It was a black stallion, with a long, gray tail and a combed, gray mane. The saddle was brown and made from leather, had a saddle bag, and a shotgun on the side.

"Now, I'm gonna need you to get on first because you're taller than my 35-year-old ah-, I mean, butt."

Ares boosted Candlehead on the horse. Candlehead grabbed Ares' hand and boosted him onto the horse.

"Alright," Ares said. "Let's go get that tyrant!"

"Uh, okay..." Candlehead said the second before they took off.

* * *

Calhoun exited the mansion through the back to avoid being seen. There, suprisingly, was no wall behind the mansion. And there was a cold, wet, field from the rain.

Suddenly, a ninja jumped off the roof. He landed perfectly on the ground and looked at Calhoun.

Calhoun looked at the ninja. He was tall, about as tall as Calhoun herself, and he wore all black.

"Whoever you are," Calhoun said. "Take off the mask."

"Sure thing, Calhoun," He said in a deep, Darth Vader-like voice.

That was weird. How did the ninja know her name?

The ninja removed his mask. He had brown, curly hair and an extremely handsome face.

"How..." Calhoun asked, in complete awe. "How did you... Know my name?"

"Oh, well," The ninja said. "Piracy. Our developers stole trademarks, and now I know what _Hero's Duty _is. We're a crap game."

"Do you have a name?" Calhoun asked him in a detective-like manner.

"Yes, actually," The ninja said. "Coperticus Knight."

* * *

Ares took the horse behind the mansion. "Sorry, Candlehead, I need to get somethin'."

Ares turned around the back, and...

There was Calhoun.

Candlehead was positive, just like she had always been. "Hi, Mom! We're just-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Candlehead jolted back. "Woah! Hey, Mom, you don't need to get TOO crazy here, this world's crazy enough!"

Calhoun got angrier. "CRAZY? YOU'RE CRAZY! YOU KNOW THE RULES! YOU KNOW YOU'D JUST DIE HERE AND NEVER REGENERATE!"

Candlehead stammered. "Uh, well, I, uh, Yeah..."

Calhoun calmed down a bit. She sighed. "Candlehead, I understand you want to help. But this ain't no place for kids. This is some-" She was interrupted by the sound of shooting. She looked at a house in the town, exposed by a broken wall. There was a family inside, seen behind a boarded window. Soldiers were shooting at the house. They shot for about five seconds before one of the soldiers busted down the door and shot at the family inside.

Candlehead looked at Calhoun, then at Coperticus. "Hey, Mr. Ninja, who are you?"

Coperticus looked down at her. "Coperticus. But you can call me Coperticus. It's a weird name, I know." He then faced Ares. "Hey, Ares. Nice hat."

Ares smirked. "Thanks, man! How's the whole 'Fugitive from the Law' thing holding up for you? How's the fire breath?"

"Well, Ares, fire breath's burned everything I've ever owned, including my hair spray, so I took a 35-pound pill to get rid of it, and the Sherrif caught me while I was stealing some guy's harmonica. Gotta admit, the Old West must've sucked."

Ares walked towards Coperticus. "Coperticus, I want you to meet Candlehead. She's KIND OF helping us. But her six foot-one mom is making it hard for all of us right now."

Calhoun heard this. "Little man, I don't know who you are, but you're messin' with someone you're not supposed to mess with. So BACK OFF! If you know what's good for you."

"Name's Beardy Monacle, Ma'am! But please, Call me Ares."

"Interesting name... Alright, Monacle-"

Ares interrupted her. "It's Ares. 'Air-Ees' Ares."

She huffed slightly. "Ares. What are you doing with Candlehead? What's this... Thing, you've got goin' on here?"

"We're overthrowin' a tyranny. 'King Stephen IX,' to be exact." He even put it in air quotes. "But I don't think he is."

"Hmm..." Calhoun was thinking. Why would Ares be GOING AGAINST a potential part of the game? A coding bug, maybe? "Well, Ares, he's a part of the game-"

Ares interrupted her. "Oh, Game, Schmamme! This game's a big pile of piracy! It's not even playable! Your arcade owner guy got ripped off BIG TIME!" He continued, to the point of rambling. "Like, this game has no genre, no objectives, underdeveloped characters! Everything about this game's a BUTTLOAD of idiocracy! It's an EMBARRASSMENT to the WHOLE GAME INDUSTRY! I hope your arcade guy gets justice!"

Candlehead was in awe, with her jaw dropped to the edge of space. Those were big words, especially for her.

Calhoun looked at Ares, then at Coperticus, then Candlehead, then back to Ares. "This man's still a part of your game... Doesn't matter if your game's not the best game out there... Doesn't matter if your game ain't that famous... The ONLY WAY...that THAT MAN WOULDN'T BE IMPORTANT... is if you got unplugged..."

Ares thought hard. How would he be able to convince this attractive lady body-clad in armor? But then...

Shooting increased through town. The rain cleared. It got so bad that the town started to light on fire, even on wet ground.

This gave Ares an idea. "Ma'am, he's shooting at those people! And that whole 'regenerating' thing, that dosen't even apply to them! He's destroying this game, and we need to seduce him!"

Calhoun looked at the town again, the town in hellish, violent flames. Every soldier, just shooting into people's homes. The castle shooting an intense, red beacon bright enough to attract Cy-Bugs. Directed at the town. People just... Dying No regeneration, just... Dying. The incompetent developers had forgotten to program it in.

Calhoun sighed. "Okay. You can go talk to him. But don't overthrow him. He needs to be king for the game."

Ares jumped in the air, fists up, punching the sky. "Woo-hoo!"

Coperticus looked at him. "So am I done here?"

Ares smirked.

"Yes, Go on, scavenge!"

* * *

Ralph and Felix had been led to a door by the footprints. The door was a metal door, mounted into the ground, had a handle with a lock, and had a lot of dirt on it. It had to lead somewhere.

"The door's locked..." Felix muttered.

"Leave it to me," Ralph told him. With that, Ralph used his wrecking ball-like hands to POUND the door open. "Easy peasy," Ralph said with a grin.

With that, they climbed into the hole.

* * *

Ares and Candlehead got on Ares' horse again to get to the town. Ares exited the mansion's concrete road, then got on a dirt road lined with steet lamps and garbage cans. It looked horrible.

He thought now was the time to apologize. "Candlehead?" He said without looking at her.

Candlehead looked at him. "Yeah?"

He sighed. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you back there. I don't know what happened. My hatred of kids or something, I don't know!"

Candlehead looked at him. She, despite her simple mind, still understood that he was apologizing. For striking her down.

But Candlehead was nice and forgiving to everybody, even something on this magnitude. "It's okay, Ares. But I'm pie-ing you at the New Year's party."

Ares Got a confused look on his face. "Party? We don't have parties here."

"Well, Ares," Candlehead told him. "In this arcade, we have parties every Friday! And you're invited to the New Year's party!" She handed him a pink envelope. He took the envelope. It smelled like cotton candy.

He opened the envelope. It looked very good to eat. The candy paper inside read:

**INVITATION TO:**

**NEW YEAR'S 2021**

**12/29/20 - 1/2/21**

**LOCATION: FINISH LINE, SUGAR RUSH**

**BRING SNICKERS!**

Ares put it in his pocket. "Thanks. You invite people?"

"Yep!" She confirmed.

"I'll be there," Ares said. And then, something caught his eye.

It was a poster on one of the street lamps. He grabbed it off the lamp as he passed by. Ares was shocked by what it read:

**WANTED**

**BEARDY MONACLE**

**WANTED FOR THEFT**

**REWARD: $15,000**

_Oh, no _was all he could think. Wanted? For $15,000? That was a lot of money to catch one man and bring him to the Sherrif alive. Especially for theft.

Candlehead noticed Ares was shaking. "What's wrong?"

Ares turned back. "Candlehead, I think we're dead meat."

* * *

Ralph and felix were climbing down the ladder. Felix went down the ladder, fixing parts that Ralph accidentally broke on the way down. At the bottom was a Greek-style chamber. With Benedict and Seamus at the end.

Benedict noticed them. "Uh-oh."

Ralph stepped foward. "C'mon, guys, let's talk!"

**End of Chapter Nine**

* * *

**A/N: No, Ralph is no BAD bad guy. He's not any twist villian. That's just suspicions.**

**I've got something for you guys. I hope at least one person likes it. Profile page.**

**Speaking of which, no more neglecting the story for two months. I'm going straight. Not a new chapter every day, obviously, but no two-month-long breaks. I'm done pulling that stunt.**

**The story any good? Yes or No? I don't know anymore. I'm out of ideas. See you later.**


	11. Chapter Ten

**A/N: Hey, I said I wouldn't wait two months. And I lived up to my word. So I didn't lie to you!**

**Oh, and to answer thunderbird shadow's question (Cool name, by the way), I have no idea what I'm talking about.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

"**C**'mon, guys, let's talk!"

Ralph was staring at Benedict, who he could tell was shaking uncontrollably.

Ralph noticed this. "C'mon, I just wanna talk! I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Benedict shook for a few more seconds, then stepped on a switch under his foot, opening a door behind them, which broke and shut itself.

Uh oh. They were cornered by a giant monster in overalls.

"Seamus," Benedict said. "It's been nice knowin' you."

With that, Benedict tried to open the door, but couldn't.

"SEAMUS! COME HELP ME!"

Seamus just stood there, he felt betrayed by what Benedict had said to him.

"SEAMUS, YOU IMBECILE, COME AND HELP ME!"

Seamus' fists started clenching, his face scowling, he'd had it with Benedict and his open threats.

"N-No."

Benedict was instantly shocked by what he had heard. Seamus? Going against him? After he had helped him? This had to be a dream!

"What?"

Seamus scowled harder. "Y-You heard me, you short piece of crap! I said no! I won't help you! You're on your own!"

Benedict was at a loss for words. He had just been betrayed by his friend, who had been known for his extreme anxiety attacks! This meant one thing.

It was time for war.

Benedict reached into his pocket and somehow found a sticky bomb in there. Since that could blow the door open, he stuck it to the door and timed it for 5 seconds. Benedict ran back before the bomb went off and blew the entire door open.

That was it. Benedict was free!

Benedict ran out of the door, with Ralph, Felix, and Seamus following him.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS, BENEDICT!" Seamus yelled at Benedict, angered at what had happened.

After a bit more running, Benedict stopped at a cliff, deeper and more bottomless than the one from earlier. Ralph, Felix, and Seamus stopped behind him.

Benedict turned around to see his former hostages AND his former FRIEND standing.

"Oh, no."

Seamus approached Benedict, but before he could say anything, he slipped on a puddle from the rain, and started to fall off, but Benedict, instinctively, grabbed his hand. Felix tried to help too, but also slipped and fell, but Seamus grabbed his hand. there they were, a chain of three human beings, one grabbing hold of the other two. Over a 300,000 foot drop.

But Ralph was strong enough to lift their combined weight. So he was able to lift them easily off the edge and onto the ground.

Seamus started drooling. "How... Did you lift us?"

"Eh," Ralph said. "I've been wrecking buildings for thirty-eight years. I can lift, too."

* * *

Ares had been shaking for a whole five minutes. If he was wanted, then there were bounty hunters everywhere looking for him. Candlehead was just staring at him, deciding if she should snap him out of it. He looked pretty scared. So, Candlehead decided to all-out SLAP HIM.

Ares quit shaking instantly. "O-Oh, hey, Candlehead, thanks." He saw a light in the woods. That had to be a flashlight.

"Oh, no!"

In an instant, Ares turned the horse into the woods on the opposite side of where the light was coming from. Dense forests surrounded the trail until Ares stopped at a cabin. He got off the horse.

"Candlehead," He said. "You're gonna have to go get King Stephen by yourself."

Candlehead was shocked. "What?!"

"It's the only way!" He explained. "If the bounty hunters see you, they'll probalby kill you!"

"Is that even how that worked in the Old West?"

"I don't know. Here." He pulled out a can of hair spray. "This is what I was looking for when Coperticus showed up. Be careful. This stuff is flammable."

Candlehead took the can.

Ares tipped his hat. "Good luck. I really mean it. Now stay safe out there. There's a reason this is called Bear Woods."

Candlehead felt a chill run down her spine. What did he mean, 'Bear Woods'? But before she could say anything, Ares slapped the horse.

"Get!"

The horse ran into the woods, with Candlehead on it. Ares looked into that direction one final time.

"Go get 'em, partner."

He turned around, ready to fight the bounty hunter who had chased him. After a few seconds, the bounty hunter showed up, with his blue coat, blue cowboy hat, and blue bandana.

Ares smirked. "Hunter? Well, ya want me? Well, you're not gettin' me!"

Hunter got off his horse, ready to have a duel. "Ares!" He had a thick southern accent.

Ares looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Draw!"

Ares knew what was happening. There was silence for a few seconds. And then,

"No."

Ares pulled his revolver out of his holster and threw it on the ground.

"Drop your gun, Hunter. We're settling this like men."

Hunter laughed maniacally. "A little cliché, don't ye think?"

"Perhaps. But it's for my own personal amusement."

Hunter groaned. "Just... Pick yer gun up 'n have a duel with me!"

Ares shook his head. "No. Now quit bein' a wuss and fight me like a man!"

Hunter smirked. "Okay! If ye say so!" And so, Hunter threw his revolver behind him and charged for Ares, fist out in front of him. But before he could punch, Ares quickly dodged the punch, and simultaneously punched Hunter back, knocking him out instantly.

"Serves ya right," Ares said to Hunter's unconsious body before he spat onto the bounty hunter's blue bandana.

* * *

'Bear Woods'. Candlehead didn't wanna get eaten by a bear! That would be not just a death, but a really embarassing death! But she was already into the woods, she had to keep going! The horse was going cuckoo being in this place, too! It seemed like a bear was gonna pop out of nowhere any second, now.

_I can't go back, _she thought. _I gotta get through this! If Ares wants me to go in there alone, then I will!_

But this wouldn't last long, as suddenly, the inevitable happened, with a bear JUMPING OUT in front of Candlehead. The horse was so scared, it bucked Candlehead off its back and ran off.

And so, that left Candlehead, stranded in the middle of the woods, facing a bear. One that looked hungry, too.

Candlehead looked into the bear's eyes. The bear looked directly at her, ready to eat.

How much time did she have left?

**End of Chapter Ten**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

**S**he was gonna die.

That bear looked hungry to Candlehead. And Candlehead looked like dinner to the bear. That wasn't good at all.

The bear roared loudly and tried to smack Candlehead unconsious, but Candlehead dodged the attack. The bear ran for Candlehead, but Candlehead dodged, and the bear ran head first into a tree, knocking it unconsious.

Candlehead gasped. "Oh my gosh, I killed him!" She looked around, trying to find something to potentially revive the bear, but she found nothing.

She started panicking. "Oh, I-I'm sure he'll regenerate! I need to get outta here!"

She ran towards town on foot. Little did she know that regeneration didn't exist in this game.

* * *

6:00 AM. That was what Ralph and Felix thought may have been the time. Ralph, Felix, Benedict, and Seamus were at the cliff, looking at the town, in flames, with black smoke pouring away.

"Oh my land," Felix said, looking at the town.

"That doesn't look good," Benedict said.

* * *

Ares had taken Hunter's horse up to a vantage point. He had stopped at a cliff, this one kind of small, but higher in elevation than the town. He took a sniper rifle off the saddle's holster, and lied down on the edge of the cliff, looking at the town through the scope.

He looked at the town's gate first. He didn't see Candlehead yet, but the gate was open. Before he could look inside the burning town, though, he saw Candlehead running up a hill leading from Bear Woods to the gate.

"There she is," He muttered to himself. "She might need backup, this could get messy..."

* * *

As Candlehead entered through the gate, she was immediately greeted by three soldiers, hellbent on killing anyone they see. Candlehead hid behind a building, but they started shooting.

"This is harder than I thought!"

* * *

That was when Ares came into play. He loaded the sniper rifle with a few small tranquilizer darts, and started shooting the soldiers with them, one by one.

"Ther you are, Candlehead," Ares said while shooting. "That might buy you some time..."

* * *

Candlehead noticed this. She saw the soldiers drop, but there was none of that red stuff. After all of them were shot, Candlehead picked up one of the darts.

"Tranquilizer darts? Mom told me all about these!"

Candlehead ran to the next section of the town, this one more firey than the last.

* * *

"Oh no, Candlehead, don't tell me you're goin' into the fire!"

Ares was worried. He couldn't see Candlehead anymore. And to add to that, she was unarmed. Uh oh.

* * *

Candlehead looked around. This was something that she found even scarier than _Hero's Duty_. Every building was on fire. Every single one of them. It was hot, too, but it wasn't anything she hadn't endured before. It was scary, but not because of the fire, but rather the sound of guns.

Guns, guns, guns, gunfire left, gunfire right.

But somehow, none of the soldiers noticed Candlehead, maybe it was because all of the soldiers were shooting inside the houses. So, Candlehead was able to get out of the firey area easily.

* * *

Ares was looking at the end of the fires as he saw Candlehead. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good job, Candlehead! Now the castle's straight ahead!"

But something jolted in his memory, something about a walkie talkie.

"Oh, that's right!"

He took his walkie out of his jacket, and turned it on in case Candlehead remembered to turn hers on.

* * *

Candlehead walked up a giant ramp to the castle's doors, ready to confront the king and put a stop to this once in for all.

_I'm actually doing it_, she thought. _I'm gonna talk to an actual king._

The fires behind her roared as she continued walking up the doors as she remembered King Can- I mean, Turbo, the man who brainwashed her and everyone else in _Sugar Rush_, took Vanellope's rightful spot as leader, forced her to bully Vanellope, and even restricted her and everyone else from leaving the game. That was a phoney. This wasn't. This was the real king. So maybe he'll be a little better at kinging or whatever...

Or maybe not. Because the whole town was burning.

But never mind. Candlehead was here. What, no moat? Okay. Candlehead stepped to the doors, ready to talk this out and... Negotiate something.

**End of Chapter Eleven**

* * *

**A/N: I know, a little short, but three more chapters after this, then done!**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

**T**his was it.

Candlehead was at the castle's front doors. So majestic. But there was no time for that junk. It was time for a little talk. But how was she going to get in?

Then, she had an idea.

The doors were wood. So, she took her candle and held it at the door, which, within a few seconds, burned.

Action.

* * *

Ares was holding his walkie talkie. He had it pointed directly at the castle. But all he heard was white noise. Static. It sounded like a nail on a chalkboard.

"C'mon, Candlehead, pick up..."

* * *

Candlehead walked inside the castle. Never in her twenty-three years of existence had she seen anything more majestic than the castle. Even the castle in _Sugar Rush_ was put to shame by this. Stained glass, greek style archetecture, even though she thought it was a little out of place...

Marble floors, with the king's initials, KS, carved into them.

And at the end of the hall, the throne, with King Stephen IX, King of Magicland, sitting on it.

"Welcome, little one," The king said quietly, but loud enough for Candlehead to hear. "What brings you here?"

Candlehead remembered Turbo even more, this guy looked like him, sounded like him...

"Well," She began. "Your town's burning..."

"You think I'm stoppin that?"

"What?"

The king laughed with a big evil laugh. "Mwahaha! Yes, you heard me! I'm not stoppin' that at all! In fact, I'm controllin' the population!"

"What do you mean by that?" She asked him, not knowing what that means.

The king smirked. "Well, I'll show you..."

He snapped his finger. In a second, a screen to Candlehead's right flashed on. It was a map depicting the entire game's world, with every building depicted. Ones that were highlighted in red, which were most of the town's buildings, were targets to burn down.

"All the people in the world's movin' here, and we don't have enough money to build new houses, and we need the ashes from the crematorium, so, I figured..."

Candlehead's mouth was agape, she was horrified by his plans. "You're a monster..."

The king laughed quietly. "Well, it's the only way."

Candlehead backed slowly. "You're not getting away with this! Everybody's gonna know about it!"

The king stood from the throne, preparing for attack. "No, they're not."

And so, the king used his hands to send even larger hands through the celing, using them to try to crush Candlehead. He missed, but it was so big that there was concrete dust surrounding Candlehead.

"Woah!"

Then the king used his fire breath to try to burn Candlehead alive.

"Ahh!"

The king laughed maniacally. "Get a load of this, PEASANT!"

The third attack was a simple but deadly attack of laser eyes, which made Candlehead run for her life, with the lasers following her.

* * *

Ares' walkie talkie was still static. But he figured it out.

"I need to get closer."

And so Ares got on the horse. The cliff was only a few feet, so he was able to jump it without death. He rode the quickest way to the castle to connect his walkie talkie with Candlehead.

* * *

Ralph and Felix had parted ways with Benedict and Seamus to find Bobby. They arrived at his hut, still destroyed from that whole grenade fiasco, or whatever. And Bobby was still there, having formed a puddle from his tears. His hair was even wet from the rain.

"What do you guys want?"

Ralph spoke first. "We need you! The town's burning, and we all know how much Candlehead loves fire!"

Bobby stood, head still down. "Face it, Ralph. I've lost my home, my deer trophies, my weapons, my armor..."

He paused, taking a quiet breath.

"I've lost my appetite."

Ralph walked closer to him.

"Bobby," He began. "We need you. Even if those things are gone, there's still a way you can help."

"How?" Bobby asked. "That was my life in my house! That was what I USED to help people! Now it's gone! My purpose! Gone!"

"Don't say that!" Ralph told him. "You have a purpose! And I should know!" He paused. "You can still help us, Bobby. With your brains! You just tell us what to do, and... We'll do it!"

Bobby looked up. "Wow... I never really thought about it that way..."

"Yeah, see?" Ralph said.

Bobby walked between them. "Alright, let's give it a shot..."

"Yeah!"

* * *

Ares arrived at the gate. He stopped there, so that he wouldn't get any soldier interference.

"This should do it..."

He got off the horse. He took out his walkie talkie and pointed it at the castle, certain that he will get something other than white noise.

He turned it on, and...

**End of Chapter Twelve**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N: This 'action' scene was tough...**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**I**t was chaos.

Candlehead had gotten the king to attack her. With those big, giant magic hands that came through the roof to crush her. That fire breath. Those laser eyes. The chances of her surviving that were low.

"HA!" The king mocked her. "YOU'RE WAY TOO SLOW FOR ME!"

Candlehead looked at the king, he looked like he had eaten something that screwed up his mind.

She heard something. It sounded like static. And then...

"Candlehead, can you hear me?"

It sounded like Ares! But how?

Of course! The walkie talkie!

* * *

Ares was still standing outside the gate, with his walkie talkie on and pointed at the castle. He wasn't getting static, that was promising.

"Candlehead, I say again, can you hear me?"

Pause. And then...

"...Yes?"

She responded! The walkie talkies work!

"Candlehead, that king's a beast! It'll take a lot of power to take 'em out!"

"Them?" Candlehead asked through the walkie talkie signal.

"It's for the effect!" Ares assured her. "Now remember what I said! Oh, and I forgot, whatever you have, weaponize it!"

* * *

Candlehead was still dodging the giant hands, fire breath and laser eyes. But she was getting exhausted from the running.

She thought hard, even with her mental capacity decreasing. What was Ares talking about? That was...

Oh! That whole 'Take Action' thingamajig!

But where could she take action? She stopped to think. But then...

That's it! Her candle! She could weaponize it! But that could break it! But never mind, she had to stop this crazy man! Uhh...

CRASH!

A giant hand out of nowhere had started to crush Candlehead. But she could still move her arms, so she removed her candle and started to BURN the giant hand, sending the hand back.

It hurt, too. "OOOOW!"

* * *

Outside, Ares was (Still) at the gate.. And behind him, he heard a noise.

He turned around to see a big man in overalls and a small man in blue.

"Who are you guys?" Ares asked them, obviously not knowing them.

"People who live in this arcade," the big man said.

* * *

Candlehead ran again, away from the king, looking back at him. He was PISSED.

The king growled. "THAT'S IT! I AM THROUGH WITH YOU! TIME TO DIE!" And so, he took BOTH his hands and sent them through the ceiling, crushing Candlehead (Again) with all its weight, knocking Candlehead's hat off.

Now Candlehead didn't have her candle. It was too far for her to reach. She had nothing.

"Ares!"

* * *

"Yes?" Ares asked through the walkie talkie.

"...Tell Mom... I love her..."

Oh no, a cliché line accociated with...

...DEATH.

"Oh no."

* * *

"Ares," Candlehead said through the walkie, "I-I ain't got much... I-I-I'm..." She couldn't finish it. She was dying.

But then...

The door was broken down, with a small man instantly shooting at the king. Small man. Shooting. That was Ares.

The hands gave in. Candlehead's face was purple, but she was still able to get up and get her candle back.

"Candlehead! Catch!"

Ares threw a lightsaber to her. Candlehead activated it, now glowing blue, a good guy's color. that wasn't how lightsabers worked, and Candlehead knew that, but screw it. Time for battle.

Never mind. When Ares ran out of ammo, he got his walkie talkie knife and pointed it at the king. Candlehead pointed the lightsaber at him. The king, to Ares' surprise, surrendered.

"Huh," Ares said. "That was suprisingly easy. And sorta anti-climatic."

**End of Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

**A/N: Open the floodgates! Worst chapter yet!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**A/N: The final chapter. In true fashion of this story (Wow, I really gave up on this, didn't I?)**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Completed July 7, 2020**

**T**he town was saved! As Candlehead exited the castle, with Ares behind her, everyone was in front of her, cheering, whistling, clapping, everything you could think of.

"Wow..." Candlehead said to herself.

Ralph, Felix, Calhoun, the citizens, Bobby, the _Magicland_ citizens...

"Hmm..." Ares said. This might just be... I dunno, uhh... A celebration."

Celebration. Candlehead knew she was doing something right.

* * *

On the side road, the king was being thrown into a van. "King Stephen IX," the judge said. "I hereby sentence you to 20,000 years in the Ungeon for five counts of attempted murder, sixteen counts of arson, and most of all, being a silly excuse for a tyrant."

"WHAT?!" The king yelled.

"Take this maniac away," the judge ordered the guards.

"NOOOOO!" The king screamed before the doors to the van were closed, the van being driven away.

* * *

"Well, that went well," Ares said before a crown was put on his head. "What the heck?"

"King Ares," the man said with his English accent. "You are the saviour of _Magicland. _You have earned the crown, your majesty."

"Oh," Ares said, clearly suprised. "Neat!"

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. To Ralph, Felix, Calhoun and Candlehead, this meant one thing.

The game was frying.

"Uh oh," Ralph said. "EVERYONE OUT! NOW!" And so EVERYONE took off running to the exit.

* * *

Inside Game Central Station, the Surge Protector was walking down Game Central Station, whistling.

"SURGE!" Ralph said. "LOOK OUT!"

And in a matter of milliseconds, the ENTIRE game population of _Magicland_ trampled Surge, history repeating itself.

"Oh!" Surge grunted.

They heard an explosion. It sounded rather big. And after a few seconds, they heard the sprinkler system go off.

"Well, Surge," Ralph said. "Do your stuff."

* * *

Twelve hours later, inside Sugar Rush, Candlehead gave a speech, the first one she ever gave (For obvious reasons.)

"Alright," Candlehead said to the arcade's population. "I've never done this before, so..."

The population chuckled a bit.

"Y'know," Candlehead continued as, for the first time ever, she removed her hat in front of the entire arcade. "For the first 15 years of my life, I always thought that I was just awful. I bullied Vanellope, I took my candle over my friends, I wrecked my parents' apartment... But I THINK I changed, emphasis on think. I've never liked bullying, it was tiring and repetitive. And I learned that... My candle is just an object, my friends aren't. I think waiting a day in the router really says that."

A bit of chuckling again.

"And of course... Don't wreck the apartment and to eat my vegetables and wash behind the ears and under the fingernails..."

A bit of, yep, chuckling.

"And," Candlehead continued once more. "I think, whatever lesson Ares over there taught me, I think we can add that to the ever-expanding lessons that I've learned." She put her hat back on her head. "Take action. That's all. Thank you." And with that, she exited the stage, the population clapped. Then Ralph walked to the podium.

"Candlehead is a HERO," Ralph said. "Like it or not, she is. It may not look like it, but-"

Ralph was cut off by a judge. "Well, Mr. Wreck-It, the imposter has stated plans to take over the arcade."

"Wait... Candlehead IS a hero!"

* * *

Benedict and Seamus were in the back of the crowd. Ares had gotten word of their actions, then told the arcade population to avoid them. They, obviously, weren't happy.

"Seamus," Benedict began. "Let's get outta here..."

Seamus was clearly crying. "Al-alright, B-Benedei-ict..." He said before both of them headed to Game Central Station, hoping for the best to happen...

* * *

Candlehead heard the hero thing Ralph said about her. She had never really thought of herself as a good person, let alone a hero. Okay person, maybe, but she blamed herself for Vanellope's 15-year long misery, so good person, absolutely not. But there was Ralph on stage, calling her a hero. Huh.

She walked over to Taffyta and Rancis, who were behind the stage.

"Hey, guys," Candlehead greeted.

"Hey," Rancis replied.

"Did'ya get with that coot again?" Candlehead asked.

"Yeah, we did."

"Hey, Candlehead," Taffyta asked. "We're going into Tapper's tonight. wanna come?"

"Oh, Sure-" She remembered. "Wait a minute, Tappers burned down."

Taffyta smirked. "That's what the Internet's for, Sister."

Candlehead went with it. "Okay, maybe seven?"

"Eight," Rancis said. "We still gotta do the Random Roster Race, uhh... Golly, Sorry you didn't make it today, Candlehead."

"Oh," Candlehead said to this. "Rancis, silly Rancis. That doesn't matter. If I gotta make some, uhh... Sacrifices, then I will..."

She then pulled them both into a group hug, one of Candlehead's legs lifting up.

"...For you guys," she finished.

* * *

Meanwhile, behind a bench in Game Central Station, a man in all blue was holding a walkie talkie.

"That's an arcade, Derek." The guy on the other side commanded him with his Jamaican accent. "They have code boxes. Get the source code from every game in that arcade. And once you're done, bring 'em over to the alleyway by Dan's place."

"Yes, Desmond," Derek said before turning off the walkie talkie, then stepping into Tron...

**The End**

* * *

**A/N: Eh.**


End file.
